France is negotiating to deliver up to a dozen additional Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, originally procured by Denmark, Le Monde revealed citing sources.
French President Emmanuel Macron, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have been discussing the delivery for the last few weeks, the outlet wrote, adding that “technical discussions are being finalized.”
The 6 to 12 mounted guns are part of the 15 Copenhagen ordered in 2017 from French manufacturer Nexter. The Scandinavian country bought another four guns two years later.
Denmark would be willing to part with a few of the Caesars as the systems are being technically validated, as all of them “may not comply with the specifications initially set by the Danes.”
French Stock Delivered to Ukraine
The Ukrainian leadership is quite pleased with the system’s performance and is willing to deploy them “as they are.”
The Caesar is a 155-mm howitzer mounted on a six-wheeled truck chassis, capable of striking targets at more than 40 kilometers (25 miles).
France has delivered 18 Caesars to Ukraine since the war began, nearly a quarter of the country’s stock of 76.
Unwilling to Deliver More
Kyiv has requested 15 more Ceasers from Paris, but the French leadership is unwilling to dip further into the country’s inventory.
The Paris-led effort is an alternative to fulfill Ukraine’s request without further depleting the French military’s stock, Le Monde observed, adding that the new gun would be twice as heavy as those of the French Army, capable of carrying twice the number of shells, 36.